It's once again time to review the winners of the Annual Stella Awards.
> >
> > > > Brief History:
> > > > The Stellas' are named after 81 year old Stella Liebeck who
> > > > spilled coffee on herself and successfully sued McDonald's for
> > > > a neat retirement fund of $1 000 000. That case inspired the
> > > > Stella Awards for the most frivolous successful lawsuits in
theUnited States.
> > > > Unfortunately the most recent lawsuit implicating McDonald's,
> > > > the teens who allege that eating at McDonald's has made them
> > > > fat was filed after the 2004 award voting was closed.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > THIS YEAR'S AWARDS GO TO .....
> > > >
> > > > 5TH PLACE (TIED): Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas was
> > > > awarded $780,000 by a jury of her peers after breaking her ankle
> > > > tripping over a toddler who was running inside a furniture
store.
> > > > The owners of the store were understandably surprised at the
> > > > verdict, considering the misbehaving toddler was Ms. Robertson's
> > son.
> > > >
> > > > 5TH PLACE (TIED): 19 year old Carl Truman of Los Angeles won
> > > > $74,000 and medical expenses when his neighbor ran over his
> > > > hand with a Honda Accord. Mr. Truman apparently did not notice
> > > > there was someone at the wheel of the car when he was trying to
> > > > steal the hubcaps.
> > > >
> > > > 5TH PLACE (TIED): Terrence Dickson of Bristol, Pennsylvania
was
> > > > leaving a house he had just finished robbing by way of the
garage.
> > > > He was not able to get the garage door to go up since the
> > > > automatic Door opener was malfunctioning. He could not re-enter
> > > > the house because the door connecting the house and garage
> > > > locked when he
> > pulled it shut.
> > > > The family was on vacation and Mr. Dickson found himself locked
> > > > in the garage for 8 days. He subsisted on a case of Pepsi he
> > > > found and a large bag of dry dog food. He sued the homeowner's
> > > > insurance claiming the situation caused him undue mental
> > > > anguish. The jury agreed to the tune of $500,000.
> > > >
> > > > 4TH PLACE: Jerry Williams of Little Rock, Arkansas was
awarded
> > > > $14,500 and medical expenses after being bitten on the buttocks
> > > > by his next door neighbour's Beagle dog. The Beagle was on a
> > > > chain in its owner's fenced yard. The award was less than sought
> > > > because the jury felt the dog might have been a little provoked
> > > > at the time as
> > Mr.
> > > > Williams, who had climbed over the fence into the yard, was
> > > > shooting
> >
> > > > it Repeatedly with a pellet gun.
> > > >
> > > > 3RD PLACE: A Philadelphia restaurant was ordered to pay Amber
> > > > Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania $113,500 after she slipped on
> > > > a soft drink and broke her coccyx (tailbone). The beverage was
> > > > on the floor because Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend
> > > > 30 seconds earlier, during an argument.
> > > >
> > > > 2ND PLACE: Kara Walton of Claymont, Delaware sued the owner
of
> > > > a Night Club in a neighboring city when she fell from the
> > > > bathroom window to the floor and knocked out two of her front
> > > > teeth. This occurred while Ms. Walton was trying to sneak in the
> > > > window of the Ladies Room to avoid paying the $3.50 cover
> > > > charge. She was awarded $12,000 and dental expenses.
> > > >
> > > > 1ST PLACE: This year's runaway winner was Mr. Merv Grazinski
of
> > > > Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Mr. Grazinski purchased a brand new
> > > > Winnebago Motor home. On his trip home from an OU football game,
> > > > having driven onto the freeway, he set the cruise control at 70
> > > > mph and calmly left the driver's seat to go into the back and
> > > > make himself a cup of coffee. Not surprisingly the RV left the
> > > > freeway,
> >
> > > > crashed and overturned. Mr. Grazinski sued Winnebago for not
> > > > advising him in the owner's manual that he could not actually do
> > > > this. The jury awarded him $1,750,000 plus a new Winnebago
> > > > Motor home. The company actually changed their manuals on the
> > > > basis of this suit just in case there were any other complete
> > > > morons buying their recreational vehicles.
> >
> > > > Brief History:
> > > > The Stellas' are named after 81 year old Stella Liebeck who
> > > > spilled coffee on herself and successfully sued McDonald's for
> > > > a neat retirement fund of $1 000 000. That case inspired the
> > > > Stella Awards for the most frivolous successful lawsuits in
theUnited States.
> > > > Unfortunately the most recent lawsuit implicating McDonald's,
> > > > the teens who allege that eating at McDonald's has made them
> > > > fat was filed after the 2004 award voting was closed.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > THIS YEAR'S AWARDS GO TO .....
> > > >
> > > > 5TH PLACE (TIED): Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas was
> > > > awarded $780,000 by a jury of her peers after breaking her ankle
> > > > tripping over a toddler who was running inside a furniture
store.
> > > > The owners of the store were understandably surprised at the
> > > > verdict, considering the misbehaving toddler was Ms. Robertson's
> > son.
> > > >
> > > > 5TH PLACE (TIED): 19 year old Carl Truman of Los Angeles won
> > > > $74,000 and medical expenses when his neighbor ran over his
> > > > hand with a Honda Accord. Mr. Truman apparently did not notice
> > > > there was someone at the wheel of the car when he was trying to
> > > > steal the hubcaps.
> > > >
> > > > 5TH PLACE (TIED): Terrence Dickson of Bristol, Pennsylvania
was
> > > > leaving a house he had just finished robbing by way of the
garage.
> > > > He was not able to get the garage door to go up since the
> > > > automatic Door opener was malfunctioning. He could not re-enter
> > > > the house because the door connecting the house and garage
> > > > locked when he
> > pulled it shut.
> > > > The family was on vacation and Mr. Dickson found himself locked
> > > > in the garage for 8 days. He subsisted on a case of Pepsi he
> > > > found and a large bag of dry dog food. He sued the homeowner's
> > > > insurance claiming the situation caused him undue mental
> > > > anguish. The jury agreed to the tune of $500,000.
> > > >
> > > > 4TH PLACE: Jerry Williams of Little Rock, Arkansas was
awarded
> > > > $14,500 and medical expenses after being bitten on the buttocks
> > > > by his next door neighbour's Beagle dog. The Beagle was on a
> > > > chain in its owner's fenced yard. The award was less than sought
> > > > because the jury felt the dog might have been a little provoked
> > > > at the time as
> > Mr.
> > > > Williams, who had climbed over the fence into the yard, was
> > > > shooting
> >
> > > > it Repeatedly with a pellet gun.
> > > >
> > > > 3RD PLACE: A Philadelphia restaurant was ordered to pay Amber
> > > > Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania $113,500 after she slipped on
> > > > a soft drink and broke her coccyx (tailbone). The beverage was
> > > > on the floor because Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend
> > > > 30 seconds earlier, during an argument.
> > > >
> > > > 2ND PLACE: Kara Walton of Claymont, Delaware sued the owner
of
> > > > a Night Club in a neighboring city when she fell from the
> > > > bathroom window to the floor and knocked out two of her front
> > > > teeth. This occurred while Ms. Walton was trying to sneak in the
> > > > window of the Ladies Room to avoid paying the $3.50 cover
> > > > charge. She was awarded $12,000 and dental expenses.
> > > >
> > > > 1ST PLACE: This year's runaway winner was Mr. Merv Grazinski
of
> > > > Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Mr. Grazinski purchased a brand new
> > > > Winnebago Motor home. On his trip home from an OU football game,
> > > > having driven onto the freeway, he set the cruise control at 70
> > > > mph and calmly left the driver's seat to go into the back and
> > > > make himself a cup of coffee. Not surprisingly the RV left the
> > > > freeway,
> >
> > > > crashed and overturned. Mr. Grazinski sued Winnebago for not
> > > > advising him in the owner's manual that he could not actually do
> > > > this. The jury awarded him $1,750,000 plus a new Winnebago
> > > > Motor home. The company actually changed their manuals on the
> > > > basis of this suit just in case there were any other complete
> > > > morons buying their recreational vehicles.